Gotemba Shiei Ski Area Closed
Official name 御殿場市営スキー場 · Formerly 太郎坊スキー場
Shizuoka
Open 1975–1990
Gotemba Shiei Ski Area was a city-run ski ground at Tarobo on the southeast flank of Mount Fuji, close to the Gotemba Trail New 5th Station. People had skied here since the early Showa era, and in 1975 it became a proper ski area with a lift, on slopes between roughly 1,500 m and 1,680 m. In good years it drew around 200,000 visitors, but snowfall varied wildly from season to season, and slush avalanches triggered by rainy spring storms repeatedly damaged it, so it closed in 1990. The facilities were later removed, and the access road is closed in winter.
History of Gotemba Shiei Ski Area
- Opened
- 1975
- Closed
- 1990
- Formerly
- 太郎坊スキー場
- Operators
- Gotemba City (city-run)
- Why it closed
- Repeated damage from slush avalanches set off by rainy spring storms (1981, 1983, 1990) and lack of snow in some years
- The site today
- Lifts and facilities were removed in 1993 (Wikipedia says part of a lift remains). Prefectural Road 152 is closed in winter.